Construction of railroad-beds.



W. W. ALLEY.

CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROAD BEDS.

APPLIOATION FILE-D NOV. 14, 1912.

1 70,386 Patented Aug". 19, 1913.

Inventor Attorneys COLUMBIA I'LANOGRAPII C0..\VASH1NGTON. DY c.

WILLIAM W. ALLEY, 0F ALLEYTON, TEXAS.

CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROAD-BEDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Application filed November 14, 1912. Serial No. 731,451.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, lVILLmM ALLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alleyton, in the county of Colorado and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Construction of Railroad-Beds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of road beds for supporting railroad tracks.

An object is to provide a structure which may be formed at some distant point and shipped to its place of usage.

Another object is to provide a structure which may be readily assembled, economical to manufacture and possessing great strength.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, with out departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part thereof :Figure 1 is a cross sectional view, taken on the line AA of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved construction of railroad bed.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 10 and 11 represent two similar longitudinally extending beams preferably formed of concrete and provided at one end with the blocks 12 and 13, these blocks extending beyond the beams for a slight distance as shown in Fig. 2 and are adapted to receive thereon the ends of the adjacent beam. These beams are designed to be molded in sections of definite lengths and are intended to be shipped to the place of their usage. They are substantially trapezoidal in outline and have the grooves 14, 15 extending along their upper surface, which grooves are adapted to receive therein the rails 17 and 18. Disposed within the said grooves and located between the rail flange and the concrete beams are the shock absorbing strips 19, 20, which are preferably formed .of wood which has been previously creosoted and compressed, which treatment produces a strong and durable structure. The said beams 10 and 11 are provided with the longitudinal reinforcing members 21, 22, these reinforcing members being similar to the reinforcing rods in the usual concrete construction.

In order that the rails 17 and 18 may be held securely in place upon the beams 10 and 11, the bolts 23 are provided. These bolts are embedded in the concrete during the molding of the latter and are adapted to hold the rails in position by means of the fastening nuts 2%. The bolts 23 with their fastening nuts are positioned at regular intervals throughout the beams.

In order that. the beams 10 and 11 may be suitably spaced apart and to insure their remaining in said spaced relation, suitable tie bars 25 are provided. These tie bars extend through the concrete beams and are fastened thereto by means of the bolt heads 26 and the fastening nuts 27. Located upon the tie bars 25 and positioned between the beams 10 and 11. are the collars 28, provided with suitable set screws for holding them in contact with the beam walls. The tie rods 25 although of substantial construction are not adapted to act as compression members and in order to hold the beams 10 and 11 at a suitable distance apart, ballast is interposed between these beams and upon the top of this ballast is applied a layer of concrete 29. This layer of concrete is preferably curved as shown in Fig. 1, in order to insure the proper drainage of any and all water therefrom. Suitable openings 30 are provided in the beams 10 and 11 and by means of these openings any water which may collect upon the concrete layer 29 will be drained therefrom and in this manner any and all danger of wash-outs is provided against.

Thus it will be seen that in my road bed construction the beams are provided at one end with blocks which serve to connect the various beam sections together and at the same'time allow for suitable expansion of each beam section. The beams are held a suitable distance apart by means of ballast and a concrete layer therefor and are held from spreading by suitable tie rods thus insuring that the stress upon these rods will be a tensional one only. The rail clamping members are formed integral with the beams at the time of molding of the latter. It will thereforebe seen that my improved construction will be one which may be easily and cheaply made at some convenient point and shipped to the place of usage at which destination it may be easily and readily assembled and having once been assembled will be extremely strong and Will eliminate all danger of the spreading of the rails and accidents due to similar causes.

Having thus fully disclosed the construction and advantages of my improved structure, what I claim to be new and original with me is i,

1. In a railroad bed the combination of parallel extending concrete beams substantially trapezoidal in cross section, suitable longitudinal reinforcing members for the said beams, concrete blocks formed integral with said beams at one end thereof, said blocks extending beyond and below the said beam ends, said beams provided with rail receiving grooves along their upper surface, adapted to receive and retain therein rails, bolts adapted to hold rails within said grooves, tension tie rods extending between and through said beams adapted to hold Copies of this patent may be obtained f0 said beams in spaced relation, a concrete arch extending between said beams, ballast disposed between said beams beneath said arch, said arch and ballast adapted to hold said beams in spaced relation.

2. A concrete beam for railroad beds, trapezoidal in cross section, and provided with a rail receiving channel along its up per surface, longitudinal reinforcing members for said beam, rail holding bolts embedded in said beam and extending thereabove, a rectangular concrete block formed integral with said beam at one end thereof, said block having its major axis extending transversely of said beam, said block extending beyond the end of said beam to thereby form a receiving and supporting ledge for the next adjacent concrete beam.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM V. ALLEY.

\Vitnesses 'T. V. lWIoLEoD,

R. WV. GILLEsPIE.

r five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

